As a member of the Transport Select Committee, Martin took the opportunity on Monday to quiz the Chief Executive of Network Rail, Sir David Higgins, on how the programme would benefit provincial towns in the north of England. Martin further pressed Sir David on how the additional capacity on the East Coast Mainline will benefit such towns as Scunthorpe, Grimsby and Cleethorpes.
The full exchange can be found below:
Martin Vickers: Sir David, you mentioned connectivity between the major cities of the north and how it will help regeneration. Could you expand a little on how you think it will help the more provincial towns in the north, in terms of freeing up capacity so that they too may have more direct services to London and other major cities?
Sir David Higgins: "That is a huge opportunity. Everyone talks about Leeds toLondon orBirmingham toLondon. The other day I went toMilton Keynes. I had business inYork. It was quicker to come down to Euston, walk across to King’s Cross, have a cup of coffee and then go back up toYork. That is actually three and a half hours if you go the other way. That will be cut dramatically—more than halved.
There are at least a dozen major cities in the midlands where their journeys between cities will be much better. The huge benefit, which I don’t think we have properly set out to the public, is what it does in relieving the main line—the West Coast. By having 18 new train paths on the new high-speed line, it means that we can free up the West Coast for freight of course, but that provides huge capacity to look at services.
At the moment I travel on London Midland services quite a lot. I stand quite a lot as I go intoCoventryorBirmingham, and not even in peak hours. There will be more stopping services between the cities ofCoventry, Rugby,Milton Keynesand all these areas. There will be an improved service from Stafford andLiverpool."
Martin Vickers: "Would you expand a bit on the East Coast too? I represent the Cleethorpes constituency in northern Lincolnshire. As the Prime Minister pointed out in his speech to the conference, northern Lincolnshire and the Humber area is a major centre for the renewables sector. Potential investors are looking for connectivity not just to London but to other major cities. Would you anticipate that towns such as Grimsby, Cleethorpes and Scunthorpe could also gain additional services?"
Sir David Higgins: "Yes. The key thing about this design that I find most attractive is that it is not a replacement for the West Coast. It is a central spine. It connects to the East Coast and it connects into Sheffield to theEast Midlands services. The real challenge and the crucial part on the East Coast is the two-track railway, which is incredibly restrictive because we are mixing freight, commuter and high speed. It will release a lot more services, and those who come on atYork orLeeds of course can divert on to the high-speed line.